If you’re standing in line at a bodega in Brooklyn or grabbing a coffee in Buffalo and someone asks you who is governor of ny state right now, the answer is Kathy Hochul.
Honestly, it feels like she’s been everywhere lately. From the massive Micron groundbreaking in Central New York to the heated debates in Albany over the 2026 budget, Hochul is firmly in the driver’s seat. But she isn't just "filling in" anymore. She is the 57th Governor of New York and the first woman to ever hold the job.
You might remember she took over back in 2021 after Andrew Cuomo resigned. Since then, she’s won a full term of her own in 2022 and is currently gearing up for a pretty wild re-election cycle in 2026.
The Current Landscape: What Kathy Hochul is Doing Right Now
Right now, as we move through January 2026, Hochul is deep in "State of the State" mode. This is basically the Super Bowl for NY politics. She just laid out a massive agenda that’s mostly focused on one thing: affordability.
Because, let’s be real, New York is expensive. Kinda painfully so.
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Universal Child Care and Education
One of the biggest swings she’s taking this year is a push for universal child care. She’s looking to fully fund the first two years of care for toddlers in New York City and expand Pre-K and 3K across the state. It's a huge deal for parents who are currently paying more for daycare than they do for their mortgages.
She also made waves recently by banning smartphones in K-12 schools. That "bell-to-bell" restriction started in September 2025, and while some parents were annoyed, the goal was basically to get kids to actually talk to each other again and stop the endless scrolling during algebra.
The Micron Mega-Project
You can't talk about Hochul without mentioning the Micron semiconductor plant in Onondaga County. It’s being called the largest private investment in New York history. For the governor, this is her "legacy" project. She was just there for the groundbreaking, promising tens of thousands of jobs. If it works, it’s a total game-changer for the Upstate economy.
The 2026 Election: Is Her Seat Safe?
This is where it gets spicy. Even though she’s the incumbent, the 2026 race is already looking crowded.
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Her own Lieutenant Governor, Antonio Delgado, actually launched a primary challenge against her in June 2025. Yeah, that’s awkward. They’ve had a "fraying relationship" for a while now, and he’s running to her left. On the Republican side, Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County Executive, is looking like the frontrunner to challenge her in the general election.
People are basically split on her performance. Her supporters love the focus on infrastructure and the fact that she’s "the adult in the room" compared to the chaos of the previous administration. Her critics? They point to the high cost of living and the ongoing migration of New Yorkers to states like Florida or Texas.
Major Policies and the "Let Them Build" Agenda
Housing is probably the biggest headache for anyone living in the Empire State. Hochul’s response is the "Let Them Build" agenda.
It’s sort of a "cut the red tape" approach. She’s trying to reform the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) because, frankly, it takes way too long to get anything built in this state. The idea is to make it easier for localities to build apartments and homes without getting stuck in decade-long bureaucratic nightmares.
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A Few Surprising 2026 Proposals:
- No Taxes on Tips: She’s proposing to eliminate state taxes on tips for service workers.
- 3D-Printed Guns: A huge crackdown on "ghost guns" and the technology used to make them at home.
- AI Regulation: New laws to label AI-generated content, especially in political ads, to stop deepfakes from messing with the 2026 election.
- Nuclear Power: She’s actually looking to expand New York’s nuclear capacity to meet green energy goals.
Who Was Governor Before Her?
To understand where we are, you have to look back a tiny bit. Hochul was the Lieutenant Governor under Andrew Cuomo. When he resigned in August 2021 following a series of scandals and investigations, Hochul stepped up.
She wasn't a household name back then. She’s from Buffalo—a "Queen City" native—and served in Congress before moving into statewide office. She’s always had a bit of a moderate, pragmatic vibe, which sometimes puts her at odds with the more progressive wing of the Democratic party in New York City.
What This Means for You
If you live in New York, the person who is governor of ny state actually matters more than the President for your daily life. They control the MTA (mostly), they set the state income tax rates, and they decide how much money your local school district gets.
Right now, Hochul is betting her political future on the idea that New Yorkers want stability and lower costs.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Check Your Refund: If you're a New York resident, keep an eye out for those inflation refund checks (up to $400) that were announced for this fall.
- Look Up School Policies: If you have kids, check your specific district’s implementation of the smartphone ban to see what the "away for the day" rules look like.
- Register to Vote: The primary is June 23, 2026. If you want a say in whether Hochul stays or Delgado takes over, you’ve got to be registered with a party.
- Housing Grants: If you’re a first-time homebuyer, look into the new state subsidies part of the "Let Them Build" plan; there’s more money hitting the coffers this year for down-payment assistance.
New York politics is never boring. Whether you love her or can't wait for the next election, Kathy Hochul is the one holding the pen in Albany for now.